Railroad spike



W. W. STRYKER, DECD.

E T JONES ADMINISTRATOR RAILROAD SPIKE v APPLICATION FILED AFR. l8, 1922. '1,425,715 v PatentedAug. 15, 19-22.

H M V MI I I ii.

To aZZw hom'itrnaycbncmi Y V Be it known that WALTER WV. S'rnYkER,

deceased, citizen of the 'United States, a

former resident of Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, did invent certain new and useful Improvementsin Railroad Spikes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railroad spikes and'the objectis to produce a spike which v will retain itself securely in place, and which as it is driven into place will cause a shoulder on the spike to'be forced into locked engagement with the underside of the track railsupporting plate by the resilient action of the railroadtie, the latter effecting a turning movement of the spike about its longitudinal axis until the shoulder is forced under the rail plate.

- The invention. consists in. the construction, combination and arrangement herein fully described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig.1 1 shows in perspective the improved railroad spike and therelation thereof to a railway rail, tie and rail plate;

Fig.2 is a vertical section through the tie and rail plate, with the spike in elevation;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the spike;

Fig. 4 is a cros section through the spike inverted looking upwardly toward the head ofv the spike; p

Fig. 5 is a side View of the spike slightly modified; and I Fig.6 is a cross section through the same.

In the drawings there are shown frag ments of a railway tie 10, a rail supporting plate 11, and a railwayrail 12. The plate 11 is formed with the usual non-circular (usually square or rectangular) holes-1'3 for the rail fastening spikes.

The improved .spike comprises a shank 14,

and a head 15 to hold down the base flange of the rail 12 as shown in Fig. l. The

shank has a pointed end 16 and has, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, opposite flat sides or surfaces 17.' It is preferred to make the shank rectangular or with all four sides Hat. The head 15 also has 0pposite flat side edges 18 to be used in eX- tracting the spike as will appear.

On one, two or more sides of the shan there are formedcain faced projections 19 terminating in shoulders 20, the cam surfaces 21 leading up to said shoulders, the latts?bees. i i tai ti i tfi nsil ai iel l Mommas; i

shown."

we ne1 '22 .fApplication filed Apri118, 1922. ..Serial fio.i55$,349

g ng w; srRszknmbncEAsnn; niarngor mwron; onioy BWEDWARD' r. johns? r r fADMImsrRA'roR;OF -DAYTON;0HI05 The shoulders 20 are situated so as to engage the underside or surface of the rail plate 11 when the spike is driven to 'its final place, as shown in Figs. 1 and2. The cam faces 21 are parallel to each other (seeFig.

4:) so that as the spike isdriven into placethe spike is partially turned aboutitslon-i "gltudlnal axis by reason of its passing through the rectangular hole" 13 in the railplate 11,'the cam faces 21 riding against" the walls of the plate 11 on opposite sides of the hole'13. i

As soon as the shoulders 20 pass under the rail plate, the cam faces 21 are pressed in the opposite direction by the fibersof thef wooden t1e 10 due to the-inherent resiliency of the latter. Thespike'is thereby turned about 1ts longitudinalaxis and the shoulders 20 are forced underand into engagement with the underside ofthe rail plate 11. I

Any force tending to lift the spike out of the tie will be transmitted by the shoulders 20 to the railplate, but as the rail plate is held down by the load'on the rail and also by other spikes, it is clear that no local force is tending to pull the spike out of the tie.

Any force tending toloosen the spikegis distributed by means of the rail plate to the other spike or spikes. If the force tending to loosen the spike is produced by pressure of the loadtending to turn or roll the track rail over, then the shoulders '20 will prevent the spike from coming out of the rail plate eventhough the tie fails to hold the spike as in the case wherethe wood of the tie rots I around the spike.

The cost of manufacturing the improved spike should not exceed the cost of the standard spike, it being only necessary to alter the spike-forming die.

What is claimed is: 1 i

1. A railroad spike having opposite fiat sidesandformed on such sides with projecting cam lugs situated in position to'engage against the under side of the rail supporting plate when the spike is in its final position, the cam faces of said lugs being.

adapted to cause a turningmovement of the spike on its longitudinal axis as it is driveninto place.

2. A railroad spike having a flat side surface, a projecting shoulder a daptedt'o engage the bottom surface of a trackrail-supporting plate, and a cam surface terminating at said shoulder and acting as the spike is driven into place to cause a turning movement of the spike about its longitudianl axis until said shoulder reaches the underside of said plate and is forced under the rail plate, by the resilient action of the tie.

' 3. In combination With a railway tie and rail-supporting plate having a non-circular spike hole, a rail spike having a fiat side surface, a projecting shoulder, and a cam surface leading tosaid shoulder and acting as the spike is driven'into place to cause a turning movement of the spike about its longitudinal axis until said shoulder reaches the underside of said plate and is forced into engagement With the under side of the rail plate by the resilient action of thetie.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature. EDWARD T. JONES, Administrator of the estate of Walter W. Stag leer, deceased. v 

